Interpreters

Hello potential interpreters. The job for which you are applying requires that you look at images and determine what caused changes to occur on forested landscapes across Washington, Oregon, and California. Part of that task will involve learning about satellite image interpretation, and part of it will involve interpreting aerial photos taken before and after the change. Here, I’d like to get a sense how you would approach that latter task.

Take a look at these example airphotos. They were taken before and a change. Please look at the photos and interpret them. Send your documentation to me via email by 11pm this Saturday FEB 21st (With the subject line: INTERPRETER POSITION: My results). Thanks!

Your documentation should include these pieces:

1. The type of change that you think occurred in the area indicated by the red polygon (the yellow pushpin is near the center of that polygon, in case the red is hard to see). Some possible examples included in our list are: clearcut, partial harvest, fire, development, road-building, insect-related mortality, landslide, avalanche, etc.

2. Your logic for making your assessment. Some possible things to consider (but don’t feel limited to these things): What clues did you use? Were you assessing the shape, color, context of the change? Or were you bringing to bear other kinds of information based on your knowledge of the way forests work? How confident are you in your assessment, and why? What other kind of information would you want to use to make your assessment more confident? I’m more interested in this logic than whether you get it right or wrong, actually!

3. Add any comments about the site, the process, or anything you find relevant for making your call, or that make it possibly confused with another process.

4. If you had to guess where in those three states this site were found, where would it be? Why?